Does Carrara 8.1 Pro 64-bit Run Under Windows Server 2008/2012?

ShazGT

Since I can't seem to get a reply in my thread on this in the more generalized tech support section, as my main question is for Carrara 8.1 Pro, but also in regards to Daz Studio Pro, Bryce Pro, and others too.

But I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with running C8.1 Pro under the server variants of Windows?

C8 ran ok on Win8.1 Pro, some glitches here and there with UI, drop down menu's, and more frequent crash/lock ups than I had in Windows 7.

But since Windows 10 Pro upgrade, its more common, in fact I can't even load meshes and scenes I had no troubles with in 8.1 Pro (windows), with out C8 totally brain farting and just doing nothing.

Additionally sometimes it will also have problems where the main view window will fail, and not render items that are supposedly loaded into the scene, and Drop down menus only partially animate, half of the list is visibile, second half isn't.

Effectively i can't even use C8.1 Pro anymore in Windows 10, and I really don't want to revert back to Windows 8.1 Pro...  Ok, let me rephrase that, Yes I would love to revert back to Win 8.1, but for certain reasons I really can't, and NEED to stay on 10.

So, I got around to buying parts and building a Dual Xeon render rig, already have the board, a pair of Socket 1366 2.53GHz Xeon Quads, 8 cores 16 threads, just need a Power Supply with 2x 8 pin EPS12V connectors, and a hefty amount of used DDR3 RAM, and then the OS.   Board, with Xeon heatsinks, and a pair of Quad cores, I managed to get cheap, $65 not including shipping.   Plan on building a 2nd soon down the road, pair of hex or octo cores, with a board more suitable for multi GPU capability as well, something I can tap into on Daz Studio, running 2 or 3 Nvidia GPU's with iRay, speed up render times and such.

Since this would mainly be my main render rig for Carrara, also used as a game server for a few games, I could go with a copy of Windows 7 Pro (my old Win7 copy I sold with a PC to a friend), but I have also been looking at Server editions of Windows as well, from what I understand, is by default you don't install the usual desktop aspects of windows with those, but they can be optionally installed, so I was wondering if anyone has gotten Carrara 8.1 Pro, and any other Daz products for that matter, installed under a Windows Server OS instead of standard Desktop OS?

Daz Studio Pro I can still use on my main gaming PC (i5 4690K, GTX 980 Ti), it has no problems I know of under Windows 10, with the hardware in that system, but right now I can't do much with Carrara 8.1 Pro.

If I can't reliably use a Server OS on the server/workstation I'll just have to try Windows 7 Pro, there is always the option of Dual Booting, but would rather just one Windows OS installed, less of a hassle.
 

Jonstark

I recently got into buying dual-Xeon servers to fill out my Carrara 8.5 mini render farm as nodes, and I can confirm that Carrara 8.5 runs great on these machines (faster rendering in fact than much newer generation i7's; seems Carrara just plays really well with Xeons).  I can't answer your question about Windows Server though, as I'm running Win 7 pro on all of them, and I should point out that all of the servers I bought all came with a Win7Pro COA activation key sticker on them too, so it didn't cost any extra money.  I bought pre-built servers (2 HP Z600's and 1 Lenovo D20) from eBay, and was able to pick them up on the cheap, each for between $125 - $190.  Other than swapping out the quad cores for hex cores on one of the Z600 servers I haven't done much tinkering or changing of the components that came with the servers (I wanted my main Carrara PC to have 24 render cores, and swapping out the CPUs was quick and easy).  I \suspect that Carrara can run on Win Server software, but I can't confirm, but either way Win7pro works great on these machines, and you can easily form your own Carrara render farm on the cheap.  I am eyeballing picking up one of the newer generation servers that can have dual-Xeon Octo cores so that I could conceivably have 32 render cores on my main Carrara PC in the future, but it's still a bit pricey for my taste to pick up pre-built servers of that tech at the moment.

ShazGT

Sorry about not replying back, things got busy later in year, and totally forgot about the thread by end of January, new job position, longer hours worked each week, etc...

Anyways, appreciate someone replying back.     Since then I've decided to stick with Win7 Pro as well, Server versions of the OS just cost too much.

Since then though, I have acquired a suitable PSU for the board I have, so aside from OS, and a case/frame (which I'll probably be building myself, buying a motherboard tray that supports EATX form factor boards, and then building a chassis/frame from 1" square aluminum tubing).

Eventually load up on more RAM...  I may, or may not invest in a couple 6 cores if I have the funds later in summer.

But I'm already eying up Socket 2011 8 core chips for cheap right now, albeit not super fast clock speeds, but 2.4Ghz at $75 a pop ain't bad really.   Just a matter of finding a good Dual socket board for them.

Don't know if site links to retailers are allowed in posts, but Been buying my CPU and RAM from Server Monkey .com, pretty cheap on CPU's and RAM, surprisingly ECC Ram was cheaper than standard non buffered.



My biggest issue will be the figuring out my GPU aspects, my Supermicro board, is one of those proprietary layout designs, it conforms to EATX mounting, but its one of those oddball L shaped boards, as a result all the PCIe slots are in line with each other, so the x1 is where it should be, offset by one space and behind it is the x8 slot, offset back over one space and behind that is the x16 slot, and directly behind that is the x4 slot.

Since the build will be a CPU and GPU render rig (Carrara and Daz Studio), eventually source out some beefier GPU's to install (GTX 760, 960, 780, 970, 980, 1050 Ti, 1060, etc), I'll end up needing some of those Bit coin miner kits that utilize an x1 card inserted into the slot, with a power and USB cable connected to it, then other end has an x16 slot PCB that the card attaches to, and then end up mounting the GPU somewhere, probably a custom rail above the motherboard.  So I can use 2 to 4 GPU's.

If this was a standard ATX/EATX layout board, I could just go with a regular case, or server case, and call it a day, but to use all those slots, I have to go custom built chassis, or just use a single GPU.


But back on C8.1 Pro, since I first posted, some of the "Glitches" on Windows 10 have seemed to fix themselves, whether updates to windows or what, but just when you think your in the clear, of course Carrara locks up, or crashes, or some goofy UI glitch manifests, so the problems are still there, and its still not as stable as it was under Windows 7.

Still debating dropping some money on latest version of Vue Esprit 2016 with the basic render up and I forget the other module included...

Dartanbeck

Have you tried running Carrara in compatibility mode? Some of our members have had problems after certain Win10 updates until they set Carrara to run under Windows 7 Compatibility mode.

Just a thought.

Carrara really love cpu cores. The more the merrier. GPU's OpenGL is all it seems to care about on that end, unless of course you're running Octane and/or LuxCore render engines?

Ever since jonstark, above, bought his HP Z600 workstation on the cheap, I've been drooling over doing the same. That older tech might be headachy to some, but I think I could get along with it just fine, since Carrara is my main reason to even turn a computer on! LOL

Some of them even come with (albeit, older) Quadro workstation GPU, which I've always wondered about as far as Carrara, since it really only uses the OpenGL, and that's what Quadros are designed to do - and do well. Hmmm... It'll be fun to see if I even grab one up! ;)